The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-02
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject of Discourse: n Split The
oloGy."

ship."-The Acts xvii, A.
Never off Goodwin Sands, or the Skerris,
| or Cape Hatteras was a ship in worse pre-
dicament than in the Mediterranean hurri.
| cane was the grain ship with 2I6 passengers
driven on the coast of Malta, or Melita five
called Citta Vecchia. After two weeks of
tempest, and the ship was entirely disabled,
and the Captain and crew were completely
demoralize1, all old missionary took COM
mand of the vessel He was small,
| crooked-back and sore-eyed, accord
| ing to tradition 1t was Paul, the
only uusc arcd man on board. He was no
more afrai of euro:lydon that could toss
tho Mediterranean sea to the gates OF Hea-
ven, and then sink it to the gates of hell, than
he was afraid of kitten playing with a
| string. He orders them all down to take
their ratons, first asking blessing on their
food. Then he inSures all their lives prom
Using them complete rescue, and so far from
losing their heads, they would not lose so
much Of the hair as you could cut off with
one clip Of the ncissors. Aye, not thread
en- with youth ''There shall not hair fall
from the head Of any Of you" Realizing
| that they would never be able to reach the
desired haven, they make the sea, on that
fourteenth night. black with the overthrown
cargo, so that when that vessel does strike
oRTOuUu IL LOU uSdNtf' ih Oho
| early dawn they see a creek and they resolve
! to make for it. They cut the cables, take IN
the paddles which were on the side
of those old boats and lift the main
sail so that the vessel may be driven with
great speed, and perhaps on the top Of some
fortunate billow be lifted high and dry upon
the beach. There she goes tumbling toward
the rocks, sometimes PROV foremost, some
times stern foremost-now rolling over to
starboard, now rolling ovei to larboard: and
now great wave daShes over the decks, aud
it seems as if the old craft had gone ont Of
sight forever. But uD she comes, and Paul
with his arm around the mast stands
there crying: 'All is we'll; God hath given
me all them that sail with me in this ship"
with much force the mast falls. Crash! goes
the vessel, until the waves rush through from
side to side. She parts amidships, goes into
a thousand fragments, and 276 immortals
are precipitated into the sea. Some OF
these passengers had been brought up
on the seabeach and had learned to swim,
snh with the chin little above the angry
the propulsion Of both feet they started for
the shore and reached it, But alas for the
others. They have never learned to swim.
or they have been wounded by the falling OF
the mast, or the nervous shock was too great
for them, or they have been weakened by
long sea sickness. What is to become
of theml ''Take that piece of rudder," says,
Paul to one, land head for the beach
"Take that fragment of SPAR" saws Paul
Of Castor and Pollux, take that fragment OF
lifeboat, take anything. Put for the beach,"
Oh what struggle in the breakers or the
merciless waters that dash clear over these
poor creatures. Hold on there! Almost
aShore'. Keep your courage up.
Remember what Paul told you. Here
they come in, whole family. AS the
th bea"h. Here comes in the Centurion on
splinter of the spar. Here comes in plank
ffeighted with whole crowd Of immor-
tails. Now they are all in, think. Yes,
the last one comes in, Paul for he has been
overseeing all the rest. and as he chambers
up out of the surf and wrings the water
from his gray beard, he cries: THANK God,
all are here" They gather around the fire,
for the Bible says Paul built fire, and the
bundle of sticks begin to crackle, and the
passengers begin to recover from the chill:
and their wet clothe; begin to dry, and
warmth and health seem to be coming back
into the bodies Of these passengers. Now let
the purser Of the ship go around and see II
any of these poor creatures are missing
Count them all up, beginning one, two three
and on to 100, and then on to 2OO, and then on
all are here-276. What relief it is as l
read the account: 'Some on broken pieces
Of the ship. And 50 it came to pass that they
escaped all safe to land"
In previous discourse I examined some Of
these passengers, but to-day l confine my
attention more especially to those who came
in on broken pie es Of the ship. There is
something about them that excites In me an
intense interest. have notso much interest
in thoSe who could swim. They got ashore. L
knew they would A mile Of water is
not a very great pull for strong
swimmer; nor are two miles, But those
who were on the broken pieces OF the ship,
cannot stop thinking OF them The great
gospel ship is the finest vessel that was ever
launched, and can carry more passengers
than any ship that was ever constructed, and
you could no more wreck it than you could
wreck the throne of God Almighty: wish
all the eople would come on board her. |
could not promise them smooth sailing all
the way, for sometimes it will be tenn
pestuous and a chopped sea; but do
promise safe arrival to all who
come on board this Great Eastern-called SO
by me because its commander came out OF
the East and the star Of the East was the
badge OF his authority. But there is vast
multitude VIII do not take regular passage.
Somehow their theology is all broken into
pieces. or their life is all broken into pieces,
or their worldly or spiritual prospects are
broken into pie 'eS, and yet hope that they
will come to the shining shore. for am en-
couraged by the experience OF these people
In my text-"some on broken pieces OF tue
ship"
One oh ;ect in preaching this sermon is to
encourage those who, while they do not
adopt ali our systems of religion, neverthe-
less believe some one thing, and want them
to come in on that plank. Some on broken
pieces of the ship" There is a vast multitude
Of people who are kept out of the kingdom
everything. l know men who are running
their souls because they cannot make up their
minds who Melchzidec was not: on the non
essentials of religion wrecking their immor-
tai hopes do not underrate the value OF
great theological system, but where in the
Bible does it say: "B.lieve in John Calvin
and thou shalt be saved" or believe in Ar
menus and thou shalt be sayed; = or, "BeIleve
in the Thirty-nine articles AMI thou shalt be
saved" A man may be orthodox and go to
hell, or heterodox and 60 to heaven. Take
Jesus Christ into tho deep affection of our
soul and we are saved. Refuse to take Him
into the deep affertion of our soul and we
are lost l believe in the Heidelbergh
Catechism and the Westminster Catechism,
and I wish You all did; but you
may believe nothing they contain except
that Christ came to save sinners, and
that you are one of them, and you will be res
cued. If you cannot come in on great ship,
lust find a piece of wood as long as the hu-
man body or piece of wood as wide as the
outspread human arms. aud il you find that
either piece is piece Of the cross, come in on
that piece. 'Some on broken pieces OF the
ship"
an talking with q man about his soul.
He has recently been travelling i'll New Eng